1986-87 NBA season
The 1986–87 NBA season was the 41st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their fourth championship of the decade, beating the Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The 1987 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington, with the West defeating the East 154-149 in overtime. It was the highest scoring All-Star Game in NBA history with 303 total points. To the delight of the Seattle crowd, the SuperSonics' Tom Chambers won the game's MVP award. Michael Jordan won his first Slam Dunk Contest. *This was the final NBA season for Philadelphia's Julius Erving who announced his retirement that year. NBA arenas paid tribute to Erving's retirement by staging special events for him. *Michael Jordan joined Wilt Chamberlain as only the second player in NBA history to score 3000 points in a season. *This was the last season the Lakers and Celtics matched up in the NBA Finals until 2008. *The 1986-87 season was also known as the "Golden Era" of the NBA. The 1987 NBA season featured up to 20 Hall of Fame players such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Alex English, Patrick Ewing, Adrian Dantley, and Joe Dumars. *Despite finishing with a sub-.500 record, the Seattle Supersonics were able to upset the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets before bowing down to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in a four-game sweep. *In a game on February 4, 1987, the Los Angeles Lakers set an NBA record by leading the Sacramento Kings 40 to 4 at the end of the first quarter. Final standings Eastern Conference | valign="top" width="50%"| |} Western Conference | valign="top" width="50%"| |} C''' - NBA Champions Statistics leaders NBA awards Yearly awards *'''Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers *'Rookie of the Year:' Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers *'Defensive Player of the Year:' Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers *'Sixth Man of the Year:' Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks *'Most Improved Player:' Dale Ellis, Seattle SuperSonics *'Coach of the Year:' Mike Schuler, Portland Trail Blazers *'All-NBA First Team:' **F - Larry Bird, Boston Celtics **F - Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics **C - Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets **G - Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls **G - Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers *'All-NBA Second Team:' **F - Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks **F - Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers **C - Moses Malone, Washington Bullets **G - Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons **G - Fat Lever, Denver Nuggets *'All-NBA Rookie Team:' **John Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers **Roy Tarpley, Dallas Mavericks **Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers **Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers **Ron Harper, Cleveland Cavaliers *'NBA All-Defensive First Team:' **Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics **Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers **Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets **Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs **Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtics *'NBA All-Defensive Second Team:' **Paul Pressey, Milwaukee Bucks **Rodney McCray, Houston Rockets **Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz **Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers **Derek Harper, Dallas Mavericks Player of the week The following players were named NBA Player of the Week. Player of the month The following players were named NBA Player of the Month. Rookie of the month The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month. Coach of the month The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month. Category:NBA season